"Now you've used up all your luck! It's time to get what you deserve! I'm holding out for karma..." (x)
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New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season
Chapter 19 - “Extinguish (Cleo, Grian, Bdubs)”
❤️ Read on AO3
💛 Start from Chapter 1
💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics
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Cleo and Tango take off with Jimmy and his super nice friends hard on their heels. Grian and BigB talk about 100-day courtship customs as they debate whether it's time to go their separate ways. Also, Impulse and Bdubs discuss feelings in the rain or something, idk.
(First 1,000 words under the cut)
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ZombieCleo - Salmon
Quarry: MumboJumbo
Hunter: Renthedog
Allegiance: Lush Cave Alliance
💚 💛 ❤️
Stumbling down the pokey-hole passageways, shoving feet in boots, is far from the way Cleo wanted to be spending Truce Night. Running's hell when you're a partial fish person with webbed toes, actually. She's got a newfound respect for however Scott pulled it off in Limited Life.
Tango sprints ahead. He's the first to reach the end of the tunnel- he spins his pickaxe into his hand with a swirl of white light and starts hacking at a patch of coal. Cleo, cheeks all puffed, glances back. Water gushes across the floor. A bucket would've been nice. Tango's got all their buckets.
"Oh, we should've grabbed the water-"
There's no time for that now. A pillager with a loaded crossbow drops and fires another shot. Cleo slams flat against the wall. The bolt grazes past their cheek. Geez. She unsheathes her sword in a crackle of sparks. Their shield flashes to their other arm. Tango's behind them, yelling that he's carved a doorway they can crawl through. But, see… It's only one pillager.
That patrol doesn't see Jimmy as a threat. They see him as a captain. If they're player-managed instead of AI-led, that's gonna bite- Not many opportunities to get this close-
"I'm fine!" Cleo charges forward, sword arm reared behind her. Oh, it totally leaves her an open, gaping target, but that's what shields are for. The pillager doesn't even blink before launching another crossbow shot. The bolt thuds against wood. Cleo slashes down. The pillager flashes with the hit and Jimmy's shriek sets every scale down her tail bristling on end.
She goes in for the stab. A second blur plunges into the water and Cleo veers their attention, only to clash swords with Jimmy. The angle's awkward- backhanded on their part, actually. Jimmy's left-handed and he nailed the hit. Her sword goes flying. It clatters down the wall. Jimmy's eyes scream bright and violet in the dark. Her own green glow reflects off his clenched and hissing teeth. A second pillager drops down, thumping around the limited elbow room like a squash ball.
"Jimmy, stop playing- What are you doing? You can't" - (Duck, stumble backwards, shield struggling against the assault of a crossbow and a sword at the exact same time) - "Why are you here? Oh, you are so suspended from my class!" With a finger flutter, she summons her sword from the ground and back to her hand.
"Sorry, Cleo! I did break your beds!" Jimmy rears back, but instead of his sword, he kicks the heel of his boot directly down the center of her shield. Cleo staggers back again and barely gets it up in time to deflect two crossbow bolts in a row. Tango yells from down the hall, but from the sound of it, he's digging a tunnel. Wants them to join. Thank gods he didn't disappear down one of those side paths- I'd never find him in time.
"You're on purple! You can't do this!"
"I'm not, I'm not! It's them!" This time, Jimmy flips his sword and ominous banner to opposite hands. The banner's wrapped around a long pole of reddish jungle wood. He rears it behind his head and brings it slamming down like a blade. Cleo jerks back, feet skidding on wet stone. She smashes her shield against his skull. Jimmy yelps. The pillagers grunt, pressing closer to him. They look like baby birds on the prowl for warmth. Gods. A third drops from above and Tango yells again. One crossbow shot catches her on the shoulder. She's low- Oh, she's so friggin' low-
"TANGO!"
"I'm here!"
Right. Cleo shuffles backwards, fumbling through her absolutely meager food supply. She stocked up on half a dozen salmon in the river, but Ren and Bdubs were there and that's all she got. At least she took the liberty of cutting her meat in advance. She shoves two small chunks in her mouth. Jimmy…
Jimmy's blinking, clutching one hand against his left eye. He slumps against the wall. Cleo, with a breath, turns and sprints down the hall towards Tango. Boots slam and clunk on every step and her webbed toes pinch against the tip. Tango races towards her, yelling and holding up his shield.
"Eat! EAT!"
"Okay!"
Tango shoves past, taking the next pillager shot dead-on. Cleo hurries past him, scarfing down salmon, and ducks inside his tiny cave. Tango keeps pace as best he can, hustling backwards in a crouch. The pillagers flicker… then turn to look at Jimmy. Their bows hitch up. Jimmy's mouth drops down. Instantly, he's fumbling the banner between his hands again.
"No, no, no! I'm your captain, see? See?"
That's the last glimpse she catches before Tango slips inside the cave and Cleo blocks the whole behind him with rough cobble. There's no time for panting or even high-fives. As one unit, they turn and start mining their way through the dark. Cleo fills the path behind them and Tango digs down.
🖤 💛 ❤️
Grian - Enderman
Quarry: Smajor1995
Hunter: Smallishbeans
Allegiance: Jungle Duo
The lush cave's huge and multi-leveled. All the tunnels are damp and tangled (and smell like warm salt and rotting squid flesh), but Grian's determination never falters. Nope, nope, nope- not even once. This is his server now, and even the underground bows its neck to see its admin. He strides down every passage with his sword bouncing at his hip. The torch broils against his skin. It even leaves his gums dry through his cheek. Tsk…
At one point, he passes a tiny cave with nothing but a red-sheeted bed. No one's asleep beneath the sheets, though they're kicked to the side like they've been used. A moment's digging reveals no hidden chests in the walls or floor, so Grian kicks the bed until it pops into its dollhouse-sized duplicate, then pockets it in his inventory. Might as well. He moves on again. No way is he setting spawn down here considering where he's got his respawn flag at the moment. That would ruin everything. He'll sleep on the dang floor if he has to.
The sound of trickling water is ever-present down here, made worse by the rain up above ground. Grian uses that as a guideline, sinking deeper into the caves. BigB's still wrapped in blaze traits right now, and since he went to bed - Sweet dreams! - he's definitely outside the Nether. Apparently Tango and Pearl had their portal somewhere down here, and BigB's blaze instinct would be to escape the water…
Aha.
[Cnt'd on AO3 - Link at top]
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